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A Circle of Quiet

Friday, September 19, 2008

Gratitude

1) Hot cobbler, filling the house with the fragrance of apples and the hope of cool autumn days to come.

2) Hot applesauce disappearing in a matter of minutes, with happy faces fair payment for peeling, coring and slicing.

3) The rhythm of the peeler/corer/slicer, accompanied by Steve Bell'sSolace for Seasons of Suffering, kept me walking the narrow path when the temptation to be cranky was lurking in the wings.

Other culinary pleasures that fill me with thanks:

4) fresh basil like a bouquet on the table. The fresh smell has pulled my children and my mother over to breathe in the freshness and stay for a visit.

5) in these days of economic stress and strain, I am thankful for food to fill my children's hungry bellies.

6) arriving home last night from a long afternoon/evening of speech and debate club, I was greeted by the smell of peanut butter cookies and the happy chatter of conversation in the kitchen. The girls and daddy were holding down the fort, and we ate cookies, drank milk and laughed ourselves silly while boys did the macarena for us to Earth, Wind and Fire.

And beyond the kitchen:

7) the temperature topped out at seventy-seven degrees today, and the morning air was moist and fresh. Perhaps we've seen our last 100 degree day for the year? Phew. You see, I wilt and gasp in the heat. The only thing better in my book than seventy-two degrees is rain. Yep, rain.

8) Last weekend, my husband and I spent an evening with my cousin at her retirement home near Stanford University. We rarely get just-adult time together, and we enjoyed our meal and being the trophy family members for her to show off to friends around the place. She never had her own children, and my family feels too small, so we've glommed on to each other and enjoyed the relationship to its fullest. She is faithfully cleaning out the cupboards and decided she was ready to bequeath her sugar and creamer to my tea party-loving girls. A gift to her parents when they were wed in 1926, she could not have chosen more grateful recipients. The silver design is worth every minute of polishing; it is gloriously beautiful.

9) Nutmeg the Arrogant Cat is worthy of mention here, even though she is foolish enough to sit on the heating stove. The greatest thing about Nutmeg is her longevity -- many a cat have come and gone, but Nutmeg stands fast. She will not lower herself to fight over the cat food with a skunk, nor does she travel far and wide for adventure. She likes to lounge on windowsills, pillows, propane stoves (?) and especially on my husband's side of the bed (my husband is not a cat guy, s0 0f course she wants to be on his side!) In addition to simply staying alive, Nut is snuggly, beautiful to look at, and never bothers me when I am sleeping. Guess who she bothers instead?

10) Candlelight. I often give silver candlesticks with a bundle of candles for a wedding gift. What other simple solution do you have to provide romance, economy, camouflage and beauty, all in one fell swoop? I love candlelight.

Latecomer that I am, it is good to be a member of the Gratitude Community at Holy Experience. Come join the party; it's never too late to start a chronicle of gratitude.

“This benefit of seeing... can come only if you pause a while, extricate yourself from the maddening mob of quick impressions ceaselessly battering our lives, and look thoughtfully...” ~ Dorothea Lange